Exceptions
by Silver Dread
Summary: Switzerland is thinking about his past friendship with Austria, and he begins to make an exception to his strict neutrality. (Switzerland X Austria)


Alrighty so I haven't written anything before on Austria X Switzerland so… you have my apologies if this totally sucks! Feedback is appreciated! (Just no hate on the pairing, I find them cute so deal with it) Here it goes…

I had always tried to forget the friendship we had before. It's been hard though. He just shows up sometimes and memories of our past flow into my mind uncontrollably. I can't stand it. Even the fact that I ever had friends makes me shudder. But lately… I've been feeling something resurface from those memories… Something I used to feel, more than friendship.

"Bruder, what are you doing?" My little sister comes over to me and sits on the ground next to me. I had been laying against the trunk of a tree for a while now, maybe a few hours. I couldn't remember or even bother to care. The shade of the leaves cover my face and the few specks of sunlight that make it through dance around on the ground as the wind blows rustles the leaves. I sat there comfortably with my coat tied around my waist and my hat just covering my eyes.

"Nothing, Lichtenstein. What are you doing out here?" I ask. 'Nothing' is a lie but she doesn't need to know that.

"It's a beautiful day, and I was wondering where you had went. Maybe we could have a picnic or go for a walk."

"If you want to." I say. I readjust my hat so it sits on my head instead of my eyes. Leaving my coat around my waist, I stand up, rising up so I have to look down at her. She gazes up at me affectionately and grabs my hand. As we start to walk down the trail back to the house, I wonder what I saw in those green eyes of hers. Sometimes, I swear I can tell she feels more than just sibling love for me. Honestly, it bothers me. I'm her brother and it's… strange that she would feel anything else for me. I wouldn't want to hurt her either, if she really does feel such things and felt the need to tell me. I don't feel that way towards her, or anybody for that matter… I think…

Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I enter the house, Liechtenstein behind me. I walk into the kitchen, passing my two shotguns next to the door. My little sister skips along quietly behind me. I silently grab the basket and fold the blanket as she prepares the food. I watch her from the corner of my eye, making sure she's careful with knife. She swiftly puts together several sandwiches and chops up some fruit, putting them in bowls. She's done this many times before so she obviously knows what she's doing, but I'm always looking out for her when she has something potentially dangerous.

I tuck the folded blanket into the bottom of the basket. She hands me the containers of food and I neatly pack them on top of the blanket. I set the basket on the counter and walk back over to the front door, grabbing one of my shotguns. I strap it to my back and Liechtenstein walks over to me, the basket in her hands.

"Are you really going to bring that?" She nods towards my gun.

"Yes, of course." I state simply. She should know that I bring my shotgun everywhere. If I don't, I at least have my pistol on my waist.

"Why, though?" She sighs. "Nothing is going to happen."

"I don't care. I'm bringing it." I shrug and open the door. She walks out before me and I follow, shutting the door behind me. She leads the way, knowing exactly where to go. She seems to really like sitting out in the meadow with the daisies. It's not far from the house so I don't really mind going with her. I have to watch her anyways, I don't want her getting hurt.

We quickly reach the meadow. The wind blows through the daisies, blowing a few loose petals about. Liechtenstein smiles sweetly and runs through the flowers towards the bare patch of grass in the middle. I follow behind her, slowly walking and stepping softly to spare the flowers.

She pulls the blanket out and spreads it out. She sits on her knees and spreads out the food. I take a seat next to her, setting my hat on the ground. She sets a couple sandwiches in front of me. I nod my thanks and pick one up. They're each sliced into perfect little triangles, as usual. The cut up fruit sits on the blanket in front of her. I take a bite of the sandwich.

"Is it good, Bruder?" She asks quietly.

"I suppose…" It honestly doesn't taste good or bad to me, it just is.

She seems to understand that. "That's good!" She always asks me the same question and she's learned that I never have much of an opinion.

We sit there in silence for a while, the only sound being the rustling leaves and the wind. Suddenly, she says, "Bruder, what have you been thinking about?"

I look at her. "What do you mean?"

"You've had something on your mind lately. I can tell. What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"…I don't believe you." I look over at her, slightly surprised. She doesn't usually press on matters when I say something.

"It doesn't matter." I lie again. It actually does matter. I'm actually starting to care about something… somebody other than my little sister. It's been on my mind for quite a while now, but I could never tell Liechtenstein that. I could never bring it up to him either. I haven't spoken to him properly in a while now, even though we used to be close friends. He was so weak and I always had to save him, but he was a good friend. I had even started to feel something more…

"It does matter. Please don't lie to me…" Liechtenstein snaps me out of my thoughts. "Is this about Mr. Austria?" she asks cautiously.

I hesitate. Had she known? Could she tell that it was the Austrian that I was thinking about? "…yes."

She's silent for a moment, her eyes dropping to the ground. Then she looked back up at him and smiled. "I knew it. So… you have feelings for him?"

"I… I don't know." I say. I'm not really used to actually feeling anything towards anyone. I usually don't care about anything or anyone. Something about that Austrian, though, changed it. I really didn't want to accept it, however. I'm supposed to be completely neutral, not feel anything towards anyone. All I've ever done since Austria and I ceased our friendship was shoot at anyone who came close to me or Liechtenstein. I'm not so sure that… liking someone, I suppose one could call it, is really something that I could do.

"Just say what you're feeling. I know you are thinking something but not saying it." She pokes at me gently.

"I'm not feeling anything. Don't worry about it."

"Well, I am worried. This isn't like you…" She pauses. "Maybe you should talk to him about it."

"Talk to him?" I say, as though she had said something insane. It honestly is insane though. How could I ever tell him such a thing?

"Yes, tell him. It's obviously affecting you and would be better to get out in the open."

"No. I doubt he even remembers that we were ever friends to begin with." I say sadly. I'm shocked at myself for the presence of emotion. This really must be affecting me…

"Then I will tell him."

I look at her in disbelief, my usual stoic expression disappearing momentarily. "You will not! Come on, we're going home." I stand up, not wanting to hear any more of it.

"But Bruder-!"

"I said no! Pack everything up and go home." I state firmly. Unable to argue with me, she silently puts the dishes back in the basket and folds up the blanket. She begins her walk home with her head down and the basket hanging by her side.

I watch her leave and sigh. I probably shouldn't have snapped at her like that. I sit back down on the ground and lay back, shifting my hat back over my eyes. I can feel the grass against my skin and the wind tugging at my hair. I breathe in softly and take in the gentle smell of the daisies surrounding me. I fall back into thought.

The fact that this whole 'liking Austria' thing is affecting me so much is unsettling. I've never felt such a thing and it's really weird. It isn't normal for me to feel any emotion at all. But Austria has just consumed my thoughts, though. The way he acts is very noble and honest, despite him being a weakling unable to fend for himself. His music always enraptures me as well. He would always play his grand piano beautifully. Every song would show the amount of effort and love he put into it…

I pause in my thoughts. What on earth is wrong with me? This is NOT normal…

I'm not alone in silence and thoughts for much longer as I feel something wet rub against my cheek. I grumble and slide my hat off my face. I open one eye, quickly shutting it because of the sun. I open it more slowly this time and adjust to the light. I'm greeted by a goat's face directly over my own.

I'm startled for a moment and scoot away, sitting up when I'm no longer at risk of headbutting the animal. I squint and recognize it as one of my own pets, Eiger. I soon notice a man standing behind the goat. I look up and see the very man I was just thinking about.

"Hello, Austria." I say.

"Hello, Switzerland." He says equally simple.

"What are you doing with my goat?"

"He had wandered into my land and I saw him. I figured I'd bring him back to you."

I stand up but I still have to look up slightly to look him in the eye. "Thank you for that. They need to stop wandering off."

"It was no problem at all. Besides, I had been wanting to visit you for quite some time now."

"You had?" I say with curiosity. At the same time, I could feel my heart skip a beat. 'Stop that, this isn't the time.' I scold myself.

"Yes, I…" he pauses.

"Yes? Continue."

"I had been thinking, remembering actually, about a time when we were friends." He says and looks at the ground.

"…I thought you had forgotten about that."

"I had… But I was playing something on my piano the other day and it came back to me. The fact that you used to listen to me play that very song when you would come over to visit." He looks back at me, a slight pink blush on his cheeks. "I miss you…"

"Really…?" I say quietly.

"Yes, and… I believe I would like to be friends again… or maybe… m-more than that, if you'd like." He looks away again.

My heart beats so hard I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest. 'More than that'? Was he feeling the same thing as me? Or did I hear him wrong? No, I'm positive that's what he said… He actually feels the same as I do. Even after all these years, he finally remembered and he feels that way…

"Yes, I would like that." I say trying my best not to stutter. I can feel my own face heat up a bit as he looks back at me, a surprised look on his face.

"Honestly? You would?"

"Yeah…" I tilt my head up to look at him. "I would. I have been… feeling that way for some time now…" I hesitate. "I'm… g-glad you feel the same…" I stammer.

He smiles sweetly and wraps his arms around me. I stiffen for a moment before relaxing into his embrace. I slips my own arms around his waist, resting his head on Austria's shoulder.

"So you're not so neutral as before, huh?" he teases.

"Shut up… I have my exceptions…"


End file.
